Paint holder



P 1957 J. GRUMBACHER 2,806,312

PAINT HOLDER Filed Aug. 17, 1954 lNVENTbR J58 eph Grumbac hep BY MWMATTORNEYS United States Patent ()fiice 2,806,312 Patented Sept. 17, 1957PAINT HOLDER Joseph Grumbacher, New York, N. Y., assignor to M.Grumbacher, Inc., New York, N. 23., a corporation of New YorkApplication August 17, 1954, Serial No. 45%,449'

2 Claims. (Cl. 41-5) This invention relates to a paint tray and moreparticularly to a holder for paint buttons or slabs.

Heretofore in the manufacture of paint trays wherein it was desired tomaintain painting material, such as a paint button, in position in thetray, it was necessary to prepare the tray having recesses adapted toreceive the paint button and thereafter coat the tray with glue so thatthe button would remain in position and not inadvertently fall out ofthe recess in the tray. It will be realized that this made foradditional cost in the preparation of the tray itself because of thematerial and labor cost required by this operation. This procedure wasnecessary as it is completely undesirable to have the button susceptibleto inadvertently falling from the recess when used causing dam-age tothe floor and to the button itself.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a tray for holdingpaint material and the like which will prevent inadvertent removal ofthe paint button from the tray.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a tray forholding paint material in the form of buttons or slabs, which will holdsaid paint material tightly against inadvertent removal without usingadhering means such as glue or other adhesive.

It is a further object of the present invention to eliminate thenecessity of the additional labor requirements necessitated by the useof the separate operation in applying the glue to the .paint tray tohold the paint material in place.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a painttray for holding paint materials, having all the desired advantageswhich nevertheless is inexpensive to manufacture and easy to produce.

Other objects and advantages are set forth in greater detail in theaccompanying specification taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. l is a broken-away face view of the paint tray of the presentinvention;

Fig. 2 is a section taken along the lines 22 of Fig. l;and

Fig. 3 is a broken-away face view of a modified form of the paint trayof the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a paint button holdercomprising a tray 11 preferably of yieldable material, such as softplastic having thin walls. While the tray is designated as comprising aplastic material, it will be understood that any yieldable material maybe utilized in pursuing this invention. The tray is provided withflanges 12 around the perimeter of the tray which may be grasped by theuser and held firm for the painting operation. A plurality of recesses13 are provided in the tray during the molding or other manufacturingoperation thereof which are adapted to receive a closely fitted slab ofpaint material such as a paint button 14.

Heretofore to eliminate the possibility of the paint materialinadvertently falling from the recesses in the tray, which it will beunderstood was always possible in the absence of separate adhering meansbetween the walls of the recess and the outer perimeter of the paintbutton 14, it was necessary to place glue in the recess and/or on thebase of the paint button in order that the paint button would be adheredwithin the recess. According to the present invention, however, thenecessity for the requirement for using glue or other adhering means hasbeen eliminated.

I have provided in the inner walls 15 of the recess a plurality ofinward projections 16 preferably located near the top 17 of the recess.The projections 16 are preferably yieldable and are formed of the samematerial as the material of the tray 11 itself. These projections areformed during the molding or other manufacturing operations of the trayand are adapted to frictionally engage the slab of paint material andretain the same in the recess. It will thus be seen that I have providedretaining mean-s preventing the inadvertent removal of the :paint=button without having separate pointed prongs over the top of therecess, which latter may break away, or having separate tabs adapted tooverlap the top of the recess, which latter are expensive to apply anddo not always function in the proper manner. The retaining means of thepresent invention are an integral part of the tray and recess.

When it is desired to remove the button, it is merely necessary to graspthe tray pressing the underside of the recess and with the exertion of alittle force, the button may be removed from the recess. However, it hasbeen found that the tray can be turned upside-down or otherwise abusedwithout the button falling from the recess inadvertently.

While the projections are shown as two projections opposite each otherin the recess, it will be understood that a plurality of projectionsaround the walls of the recess may be utilized if desired. Theprojections as shown are substantially horizontal in the walls of therecess.

in the modification shown in Fig. 3, the tray 11 also has a recess 13and it is constructed in the same fashion as the tray shown in Figs. 1and 2. However, the yieldable projections 18 are on a substantiallydiagonal plane. It has been found that the paint buttons will be heldproperly in place if the projections are on a substantial diagonalrunning from somewhere in the middle of the side walls of the recess tothe top thereof. The function of the projections in this fashion isequivalent to the functions of the horizontal projections shown in Figs.1 and 2.

While the invention has been described in some detail, it will beunderstood that variations and modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appendedclaims.

"I claim:

1. In combination, a paint holder and a slab of paint material carriedthereby, said slab being of solid substance, and said paint holdercomprising a resilient and yieldable tray formed of relatively thin softyieldable sheet material, said tray having a raised surface and havingan integral cup-like recess disposed in said raised surface and adaptedto receive and closely fit said slab of paint material, the walls ofsaid recess being provided with integral resilient and yieldable, short,mound-like inward oppositely disposed projections adapted tofrictionally engage an upper portion of the slab of paint material andretain the same in the recess, the bottom of said slab being inengagement with the bottom wall of the cup-like recess, said inwardprojections being disposed closer to the said raised surface than to thebottom of the recess, and the side walls of the recess carrying saidprojections being substantially perpendicular to a plane passing throughthe mouth of the recess, said bottom recess wall being flexible anddisplaceable upwardly to eject the slab of paint material from therecess.

2. In combination, a paint holder and a slab of paint material carriedthereby, said slab being of solid substance, and said paint holdercomprising a resilient and yieldable tray formed of relatively thin,soft, yieldable sheet material, said tray having a raised surface andhaving an integral cup-like recess disposed in said raised surface andadapted to receive and closely fit said slab of paint material, thewalls of said recess 'being provided with a short, integral, resilientand yield able mound-like inward projection adapted to fricti-onallyengage an upper portion of the slab of paint material and retain thesame in the recess, the bottom ofsaid sl'ab being in engagement with thebottom wall of the cup-like recess,-said' inward projection beingdisposed closer to the said raised surface than to the bottom of therecess, and the side walls of the recess carrying said projection beingsubstantially perpendicular to a plane passing through the mouth of therecess, said bottom recess wall being flexible and displaceable upwardlyto eject the slab of paint material from the recess.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,424,898 Pressman July 29, 1947 2,676,428 Silver Apr. 27, 1954 FOREIGNPATENTS 139,339 Austria Nov. 10, 1934

